CENTENNIAL — Blood on the driver-side air bag of a Chevy Suburban matches that of the man charged with killing three people in a collision at an Aurora ice cream parlor, according to a CBI laboratory agent.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Sarah Lewis testified Friday that the odds of someone else chosen randomly who would match the same DNA of the blood of Francis Hernandez found on the air bag would be one in 310 quadrillion.

"Both the blood samples I obtained . . . matched the DNA profile of Mr. Hernandez," Lewis testified at Hernandez's trial in Arapahoe County District Court.

Hernandez faces 19 charges, including child abuse resulting in death and vehicular homicide. He is accused of causing a collision that killed three people on Sept. 4, 2008.

Hernandez was traveling at more than 70 mph when he crashed into a small pickup driven by Patricia Guntharp, 49, sending her vehicle careening into a Baskin-Robbins on South Havana Street, killing her. Her passenger, Debra Serecky, 51, also died, as did 3-year-old Marten Kudlis, who was inside the shop with his mother.

The DNA results of Hernandez's blood was another blow to his case, as his attorneys have suggested that someone else was behind the wheel.

Also Friday, a judge denied a request by defense attorneys to dismiss all charges against Hernandez, saying the fact that an Aurora police officer did not provide the notebook he used in the case to the court was not enough reason.

Advertisement

Aurora police Officer Erick Ortiz did not include everything in his notebook in a police report.

Among other things written in the notebook was the phrase, "I'll take the blame," reportedly said by Hernandez either to police or to his girlfriend, Brenda Aleman.

However, Arapahoe County District Court Judge John Wheeler, while calling it a violation of the discovery process, decided against dropping the charges. He allowed jurors to hear what was in the notebook Friday in open court.

"I still do not feel it rises to the violation of dismissal of all charges," Wheeler said. "It does not create a new theory of defense. It bolsters it."

Hernandez, who was 23 at the time of the crash, is an illegal immigrant who has a lengthy record of traffic offenses but was never deported.

The Kudlis family has filed a lawsuit against Hernandez, the Guntharp family and several agencies that did not move to deport Hernandez after previously citing or arresting him.

Investigators say Guntharp was high on methamphetamine and crossed a double-yellow line turning from northbound Havana into the strip mall where the Baskin-Robbins is located.

The trial will resume Tuesday. There is no court on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.